Musakhan

Musakhan is a traditional Palestinian dish. Like any other dish you can find some variations from one family to another, but the basics are always there. Its basically chicken, onion and bread.

Traditionally its served differently than how I will be showing in this recipe, but the flavor is just the same. It will be easy to half or even quarter this recipe if you need to as the amount is big, enough to feed 8.

The main ingredient in making Musakhan is sumac, which is a slightly sour spice. It will be difficult to describe the flavor to you as its quite different than any other available. You will not be able to substitute this spice for anything else as the flavor won’t be the same.

The bread used traditionally is call Taboon bread, which is a type of flat bread similar to the Indian naan. As this bread is not available in UAE, we usually use what is called here Iranian bread.

You will need:

* If you are using red onion like I am, then you will need a lot more as there size is smaller

** The amount of bread will depend on the number of sandwiches you wish to make.

Direction:

As Musakhan needs a lot of onions and to prevent all the tears, what I usually do is use the slicing attachment of a food processor and slice all the onions. You might need to make it in two batches if you are making the same amount as mentioned.

Place all the onion in a pot and add about 2 cups of olive oil. What we want to do is to wilt down the onion and not fry it.

This is how it would look, keep cooking until the onions are translucent, this will take about 15 mins.

Strain the onions and reserve the olive oil that was used.

After the onions are well strained, place it in a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of sumac and salt (to taste) and mix it well.

Also add 2 tablespoons of sumac to the shredded chicken and mix it well …

In a pot, mix equal amounts of the chicken stock and the reserved olive oil and set it aside.

Now take a piece of bread and dip it in the stock and oil mixture.

Place the dipped bread on a tray then spread about 2 tablespoons of onion.

And about 2 tablespoons of the chicken.

Wrap the sandwich tightly.

Then place it a baking tray and bake until its crispy and golden from the bottom and top, about 20 to 30 mins.

Well there are many different recipes of making it and every family has its way .. but this is the way my family makes it … my grandma tought my mom and my mom tought me 😉 .. try it its really good .. cuz to be honest i tasted few from other people and it wasnt as good … take care and stay in touch noor .. 🙂

I’ve never had a Palestinian dish, this looks so interesting and delicious. And my Lebanese husband would definitely love this. Just curious, I’ve never dipped bread in stock before, how does this affect the final dish, is it soupy or moist? Or does it crisp up?

Thanx Happygrub … well u should only dip the bread for a sec .. we dont want the bread to soak alot of stock or it will break .. this keeps moisture inside .. but its crisp outside … if u dont do this step u will find the dish is too dry … and when u do .. its supposed to crisp up from the top and bottom … so its not supposed to be soupy or moist … it will crisp up as we added the reserved olive oil to the stock too … so this helps it to crisp up even better ..
let me know wat u think of it when u get to try it … stay in touch 🙂

That looks absolutely deliciously. I just may have to try that sometime, or at least something close to it. I’ve never baked anything inside flat bread before, and I bet it is wonderful. Thank you for sharing with such detailed pictures!

Hay Michele .. Well sumac is a sour or lemony tasting spice … its similar to using lemon but its like u r using it without it being liquid … i know u must be thinking of sour salt.. but that doesnt taste the same .. it has its own flavour too .. it adds a flavour to the dish … its dark purple in color .. usually sold in ground form … u should really try it … it tasts nice … and let me know what u think about it 🙂 … if u have any other questions i will gladly answer … stay in touch ..

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Musakhan is a traditional Palestinian dish. Like any other dish you can find some variations from one family to another, but the basics are always there. Its basically chicken, onion and bread. Traditionally its served d ...

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